Railfreight

Who are your reports from? A man I was talking to yesterday said the complete opposite, don't ya know

Rud wrote: »

Maybe part of the problem with the container trains is the amount of time it actually takes to get from Balina to Waterford especially with the loco runaround at Kildare and the single line from Kildare to Waterford

Largely irrelevant, all that really matters is whether it gets to the port in time for the sorting / handling and putting on the ship.

gobnaitolunacy wrote: »

Noted a spanking new sign at entrance of North Esk 'Aras Lasta/Freight Depot' lately.

There has been a Cork liner on the cards for some time now. Didn't hear word of it being reconnected to the mainline as of yet.

There is no power supply on board a liner train, Magpie, so if if is critical on a shunting yard, why isn't it critical in traffic?

There was a note on IRN recently about the Eucon siding in North Wall NOT currently used for freight being renewed.

yachtsman wrote: »

Reports are that Ballina Waterford Port container trains may cease within weeks. A regretable development just when I was beginning to think that railfreight was making a resurgence. Between falling passenger numbers and this, IE are certainly facing challenges. Its getting to the stage when as a nation we are going to have to either opt into a standard european attitude of support towards railways by way of offering incentives to industry to use them or face the prospect of no freight, and settling for an inter-regional as distinct from inter-city, and a commuter railway in the vicinity of our large cities. The inter-city prospects are bleak in the face of faster or non-stop bus and car options on new motorways.

Its just Dublin Port is increasing in business at the expense of Waterford, I saw the DFDS 2weeks ago with only 2boxes on it in Kildare and the iwt from Dublin Port passing it by with 18full wagons, the customer in Ballina doesn't care what port is used as long as it gets its cargo, rumours now doing the rounds Eucon may re enter the railfreight market, they are based in Dublin Port, people on the ground or in the know don't waste their time discussing these issues on message boards, too busy living in the real world and getting on with it.

Yes.

end of the road wrote: »

their most lightly isn't a justification cost wise to install points to allow trains to run straight through without a loco run around?

Not just points but a direct curve like Lavistown or Limerick Junction would be required and that would cost several million. Not likely for a few freight trains.

Direct running to Dublin port is easier and is in place.

Loco run-arounds at Kildare take 20 -30 mins and finding slots that long can be difficult. They already use up to 4 a day (2xcontainer, 2x wood). Even now some passenger services are slightly delayed or have to use the loop instead of the direct line.

Sligo Quay - not sure why your shot about people on/not on messageboards was necessary, after all you're here yourself, bit of a clown statement bro.

In relation to the discussion above, a direct curve from Portarlington side around towards Athy would be the best option but the motorways make it a tight proposition. The turnaround at Kildare also facilitates loco swapping so eliminating it might have some crewing implications.

My preference would be to extend the 3-tracking in Kildare all the way to Cherryville Junction as that would benefit other services in creating timetable flexibility other than freight and Waterford-LTC movements, such as an ex-Waterford passenger or freight being able to pull onto the mainline and into Kildare Station instead of waiting for a Cork express to pass.

EDIT: any word on Coillte? Possible we might see additional timber in the freight slots?

clowns

Knock it off.

Losty Dublin wrote: »

But they'd still be on a liner for several hours without chilling. If it's that important then surely it would be done throughout the whole trip.

I'd say they could use 201 HEP except some of the 201s used for freight are there for a rest from that

kc56 - true but it wouldn't be stuck at Cherryville waiting - it could head in for Kildare at reduced speed and then change tracks in the station approaches. Doesn't eliminate all the issues - nothing short of a flying junction would and that ain't happening - but it *might* do enough to give some added flex to timetabling to get punctuality up and timetable padding reduced.

What are the chances of new freight flows happening in the next few years or is it all hope is lost sort of thing with belview potentially finished , sligo empty,tivoli, limerick etc.... Do the fright operators actively have to contact IE or are IE looking for more business?

A future? Perhaps yes, but this would be conditional on government and Irish rail stimulus of the industry. Rail doesn't serve every mass industrial location in the country, and in most cases it is simply easier to transport by road rather than rail.

Geography doesn't really help Ireland - we're too small, and with most loads the proposed benefits of rail freight (less manpower, taking trucks off the road etc) are negated by the flexibility of roads. The lack of mass heavy industry here doesn't help - we're fast becoming a knowledge economy rather than a heavy industry one.

Without stimulus or intervention the rail freight situation will likely enter a slow decline and may cease altogether in the medium - long term

IE seem to find it more profitable to outsource the hassle of getting clients to freight forwarders, since they assume most of the risk in chartering trains, although there is still a cost to IE in retaining the capability to operate.

The one flow that seems to be on the table is a possible exploitation of the ore field at Pallasgreen, the question is though where would it ship to. Local interests would say Foynes but that's a big ask. Cork would clog up the mainline with 50mph trains and there seems to be resistance to reinstating a spur to Tivoli for some reason. The one that makes sense to me is Waterford but "rationalisation" won't help there, plus there would be a question about whether Cahir and other overbridges would be able to take a regular visit from trains that heavy.